1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to grease traps, more particularly to an apparatus and method to separate grease and solids from wastewater before reaching the sewers.
2. Discussion of the Background
Grease traps, also known in the art as grease interceptors, and grease recovery devices are mechanisms intended to capture greases and solids before they enter the sanitary system. Grease traps are usually constructed of concrete, fiberglass or steel having high grease and solid storage capacities for high flow applications. Generally, said grease traps are used in restaurant and foodservice kitchens wherein a lot of waste grease including fats, oils, grease and other residues are present. The waste material is normally known as “fats, oils, and grease” (FOG). Grease traps tend to remove all the FOG from the wastewater before it reaches the sewers in order to comply with government regulations.
As mentioned the main purpose of the grease traps is to retain oil, grease and other solids well trapped, allowing cleaner wastewater to flow onto the public sewer. However, sometimes residues or waste materials are not completely contained inside of said traps and end up reaching public sewer facilities without complying with parameters regulated by local authorities. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,646 to Powers discloses a grease trap having an inlet member, a discharge member, plurality inner walls defining chambers within, and a relief member for flushing accumulated waste matter. In general the fluid flows through to a chamber including an inlet chamber, a preliminary chamber, an outlet chamber, a discharge chamber, and a reservoir chamber. A gauge member adjacent to the reservoir chamber is adapted to view waste accumulation which, when necessary, is flushed through the relief member via the reservoir chamber. However even when the grease trap has a system to flush out the waste material the residue that move on the top of the chamber reaches the sewers due to the impact effect of liquids received from the sinks, or even worse, from dishwasher machines, creating turbulence in the first chamber, pushing solids away towards the outlet.
Therefore there is a need for a grease trap capable to contain effectively the residues flowing through the waste water.